[Homemade] Bolognese

Recipe is adapted from Marcella Hazans Recipe, on Leite’s Culinaria website.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, divided

1 cup diced onion

1 1/3 cups diced celery

1 1/3 cups diced carrot

1 pound ground chuck

1/2 pound ground pork (for the meat, I just bought a pack of premixed ground pork and beef)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups whole milk

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups dry white wine (or 2 cups beef broth + 2 tsp red wine vinegar)

3 cups canned imported San Marzano tomatoes with their juice (28oz can)

1 pound tagliatelle (I used pappardelle)

freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, at the table

Method:

1.) Warm the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and 6 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat until the butter melts and stops foaming. Toss in the 1 cup chopped onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

2.) Toss in the 1 1/3 cups chopped celery and 1 1/3 cups chopped carrot and cook, stirring to coat them with the oil and butter, for 2 minutes.

3.) Add the 1 pound ground chuck (and veal if using) and 1/2 pound ground pork, a very healthy pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Crumble the meat with a wooden spoon and cook, stirring occasionally, until the meats have just lost their raw-red color.

4.) Reduce the heat to low. Pour in the 2 cups whole milk and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until the liquid has completely evaporated, leaving just a coating of fat in the bottom of the pan, about 1 hour.

5.) Stir in the 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Pour in the 2 cups dry white wine (or beef broth) and gently simmer, stirring frequently, until it’s evaporated, about 1 1/4 hours more.

6.) Add the 3 cups canned imported San Marzano tomatoes and stir well. When the sauce begins to bubble, turn down the heat so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with bubbles breaking the surface every few seconds.

7.) Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is bubbling away, there’s a chance that it’ll start drying out. To keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching, add 1/2 cup water (or beef broth) if necessary, just know that it’s crucial that by the time the sauce has finished simmering, the water should be completely evaporated, and the fat should separate from the sauce.

8.) Taste the sauce and season with salt and some good grindings of pepper to taste.

9.) Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the cooked, hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on the side.